{"id":193905,"date":"2026-04-12T02:06:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T02:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/193905\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T02:06:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T02:06:20","slug":"new-york-state-may-shut-down-nursing-home-as-nuns-defy-lgbtq-rights-law-dominican-sisters-sue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/193905\/","title":{"rendered":"New York State May Shut Down Nursing Home As Nuns Defy LGBTQ Rights Law &#8211; Dominican Sisters Sue"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nuns claim to assure dignity of dying patients, but won\u2019t comply with New York\u2019s LGBTQ Long-Term Care Facility Residents\u2019 Bill of Rights \u2013 nor admit people with \u201cgender dysphoria.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Featured Image: via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>For 125 years, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, Congregation of St. Rose of Lima have cared for the dying poor, the <a href=\"https:\/\/catholicbenefitsassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01-2026-04-06-Verified-Complaint-and-Exhibits-A-C.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/catholicbenefitsassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01-2026-04-06-Verified-Complaint-and-Exhibits-A-C.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">lawsuit<\/a> filing reads. Founded in 1900 by the daughter of novelist\u00a0Nathaniel Hawthorne, the Sisters\u2019 apostolate is the Servants of Relief for Incurable Cancer (DBA Rosary Hill Home). Located in Hawthorne, New York on a hill overlooking town, the 42-bed skilled nursing facility provides end of life palliative care to financially disadvantaged \u201cpersons afflicted with incurable cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe cannot cure our patients, but we can assure the dignity and value of their final days and keep them comfortable and free of pain,\u201d the filing states. But the beneficiaries of their mission do not include people with \u201cgender dysphoria\u201d and other categories of LGBTQ individuals who are legally entitled to respectful treatment, per New York \u2019s LGBTQ Long-Term Care Facility (LTCF) Residents\u2019 Bill of Rights, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nysenate.gov\/legislation\/laws\/PBH\/2803-C-2\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nysenate.gov\/legislation\/laws\/PBH\/2803-C-2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SECTION 2803-C-2<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>New York State has reportedly threatened to shut down the facility if it continues to engage in discriminatory practices.<\/p>\n<p>RHH Video Intro, Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne (YouTube)<\/p>\n<p>The law states that it is unlawful to deny a request by residents to share a room; refuse to assign a room to a transgender resident in accordance with resident\u2019s gender identity; prohibit a resident from using, or harass a resident who seeks to use a restroom available to other persons of the same gender identity; deny a resident the right to wear clothing, accessories, or cosmetics permitted for other residents (described in the filing as \u201callowing patients to cross-dress).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The complaint: \u201cThe Mandate compels speech and conduct contrary to Catholic values and teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, the Servants of Relief for Incurable Cancer are not happy with Section 2803-c-2 which prohibits discrimination by a \u201clong-term care facility or facility staff\u2026 against any resident on the basis of such resident\u2019s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The latter appears to contradict their marketing on application for admissions, which states not only that no payment will be accepted\u2014they depend solely upon the \u201cprovidence of God and the hourly mercy of the charitable public\u201d\u2014but also: \u201cThere is no discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, handicap or HIV status.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They nuns also take issue with requisite Affirming Care for Older LGBTQIA+ Individuals Online training, as per a NYS Dept. of Health \u201cDear Nursing Home Administrators\u2026 \u201d letter attached to the lawsuit. The are not shy about their position: application to Rosary Hill states up front that they will not accept requests unless they are \u201cconsistent with the Catholic moral tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Transgender people need not apply.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"339\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-11-1024x339.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2330150\" style=\"width:876px;height:auto\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Image: portion of Application to Rosary Hill, Hawthorne, NY<\/p>\n<p>This is a flagrant violation of the law \u2013 a law deemed serious enough to mandate that a sign be placed in facilities to spell things out:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"698\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-13-1024x698.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2330249\" style=\"width:651px;height:auto\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">Image: post mandate portion of SECTION 2803-C-2 \u201cLGBT and people living with HIV long-term care facility residents\u2019 bill of rights\u201d via New York State Senate<\/p>\n<p>The sisters note that state law is narrowly tailored to protect the Church of Christ, Scientist \u2013 shielding LTCFs from the requirements of Section 2803-c-2. If Christian Scientists can discriminate against queers, why shouldn\u2019t they get to do the same?<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit, <a href=\"https:\/\/dockets.justia.com\/docket\/new-york\/nysdce\/7%3A2026cv02809\/661252?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/dockets.justia.com\/docket\/new-york\/nysdce\/7%3A2026cv02809\/661252?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">filed<\/a> in the U.S. Southern District of New York, claims the law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments. As Dominican sisters, they are under Catholic Church canon law. But their motherhouse in Hawthorne, New York operates under the civil law of the State of New York, as an unincorporated non-profit association.<\/p>\n<p>In their filing, the nuns tout their \u201cincredible work\u201d as described in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/05\/15\/magazine\/the-sisters-who-treat-the-untreatable.html\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/05\/15\/magazine\/the-sisters-who-treat-the-untreatable.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New York Times Magazine<\/a> article ten years ago, where they are lauded for taking in the terminally ill who have been denied necessary 24-hour coverage by insurance. Writer Brooke Jarvis shared impressions of photographer Gillian Laub, whose photos accompanied the article: \u201cShe was struck by their tenderness with the dying, how they painted women\u2019s fingernails and combed their hair, changed them into fresh nightgowns and arranged flowers in their rooms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Would it be so hard for the Sisters of Relief to extend this kindness to all?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nuns claim to assure dignity of dying patients, but won\u2019t comply with New York\u2019s LGBTQ Long-Term Care Facility&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-193905","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-headlines","10":"tag-new-york-news","11":"tag-new-york-state","12":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","13":"tag-new-york-state-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}